For Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, hydrogen is the energy carrier of the future. “Focusing on batteries” will not work and that’s why he is “rejoiced that Herbert Diess was fired at Volkswagen,” says the founder of the hydrogen association Hydrogen Europe in the ntv podcast “So techt Deutschland”.
Hydrogen is often presented as the beacon of hope for the energy transition. It is often claimed that all problems have been solved. You can heat with it, you can run a steel mill with it and you could also use it to power cars. “Hydrogen offers the possibility of starting a circular process,” argues Jorgo Chatzimarkakis in the ntv podcast “So techt Deutschland”. Chatzimarkakis was a politician, he sat for the FDP in the European Parliament. He is now the founder and head of the hydrogen association Hydrogen Europe.
So far, fossil fuels have been extracted from the earth, burned and CO2 emitted. It would be different with hydrogen, because water is produced again at the end of the process, says Chatzimarkakis. But is it really that simple? Producing hydrogen requires huge amounts of energy and, above all, water. Nine kilograms of water are needed to produce one kilogram of hydrogen. If salt water is used, the requirement is significantly higher.
According to the International Energy Agency, 20 to 30 percent of the energy is lost in the production of hydrogen. As soon as the hydrogen has to be converted back into electrical energy, as in cars, energy is lost again. Chatzimarkakis sees no problem with this. In many countries there is an abundance of renewable energies to produce green hydrogen. “The water isn’t gone either. When the hydrogen is converted, water is created again,” says Chatzimarkakis, explaining the “circular process”.
The hydrogen lobbyist says it will not work in the future without such circular processes. “Focusing on batteries will not work”. That’s why Chatzimarkakis is “very glad that Herbert Diess was fired at Volkswagen”. The ex-VW boss had spoken out in favor of electromobility as the sole form of propulsion in the future.
In “So techt Deutschland” the ntv moderators Frauke Holzmeier and Andreas Laukat ask founders, investors, politicians and entrepreneurs how things are with Germany as a technology location. All episodes can be found in the ntv app, at RTL+ music, Apple Podcastsand Spotify. Also at Amazon Music and Google Podcasts you will find it.